“What, to the American Slave, is Your Fourth of July?”

Frederick Douglass’s classic oration, given on July 5, 1852, 174 years ago tomorrow, in Rochester, New York, is an essential text for any celebration of America’s holiday of independence. At a time when those in power in this country consistently attempt to remove or minimize the proper–indeed, in an important sense actually patriotic–acknowledgment and reflection upon our country’s injustices, Douglass’s words still cut to the heart of the American story. Between the festivities of the day, find the time to read the whole thing here and join with other DSA members, civil rights activists, conscientious religious believers, and all others of good will to resolve that Douglass’s example of agitation and prophecy will never, ever, perish from the earth, or lay ignored and in vain.

Image: Art by Ted Littleford, New Haven Independent